Posted on 12/07/2010 9:05:19 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Tonight on Hardball, Chris Matthews brought up a thorny issue: exactly who should have the right to vote? A small group of conservatives, including Tea Party Nation president Judson Philips, think the answer to that question should be “property owners.” And while MSNBC Correspondent and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan told Matthews that he doesn’t wholeheartedly agree with that group, he does think that the idea of universal franchise is badly flawed.
When asked to comment on Philips’s statement—that restricting the vote to property owners “makes a lot of sense”—Buchanan replied that he “understand[s] the principle behind it,” but thinks our nation is far beyond adhering to such a standard; after all, these days, even the wealthiest members of society rent property. At the same time, though, Buchanan told Matthews he thought that homeowners do tend to be “better citizens,” since they have a more vested interest in the community. He also brought up the sad fact that most voters are incredibly ignorant about American government; in a recent Hardball poll, only 28 percent of respondents replied correctly when asked to name the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court—even though they only had five names to choose from.
“Your requirements are land ownership, sufficient knowledge of world events and history—where are we at?” asked Matthews jovially in response. “I thought you were anti-elitist.” Even so, the host did agree that much of the electorate is woefully uninformed. For example: “I think Sarah Palin might have a serious problem with some basic information” about American history, he said. Hey, Hardball went almost six minutes without mentioning Sarah Palin! New record?
The video from MSNBC is below.
(VIDEO AT LINK)
Anything having to do with computer voting is very ripe for shenanigans.
Next thing ya' know, the whole damn elections rigged.
They also have a conflict of interest, in potentially voting for people who would give them job security or raises.”
Yes, and the taxpayers in CA, IL, NJ, NY and elsewhere are learning just how government employees have exploited that conflict to bankrupt their states through the various government employee pension systems.
Or maybe the quiz can show up on the computer screen, and if you answer incorrectly, your vote isn’t counted. That would probably be the best way to go about such a thing
Woulden’t this invite a hanging “chad” situation?
I think filing federal tax return would be fine
I agree regarding the tax return.
I was just musing when it comes to the quiz.
amen.
Smartest thing I have seen in ages.
Tricky issue but the right to have a voice in your gov’t does not necessarily mean a right to vote for a rep. IMO, if you receive public cash, you don’t vote for those who can procure it. You get unemployment benefits from state? You can’t vote in state elections. You’re a cop paid by the city? You don’t vote in city wide elections. etc.
PHILLIPS: The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote. It wasn’t you were just a citizen and you got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you’re a property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community. If you’re not a property owner, you know, I’m sorry but property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners.
And what a mental giant Matthews is when it comes to American history. A legend in his own mind I’m sure.
If paying income taxes is a requirement, then you’re disenfranchising women who stay home and raise their children.
But here in Los Angeles, it seems like every election, there’s some pet cause on the ballot with a “property owner assessment fee” attached to pay for it.
I’d be in favor of not allowing renters to vote to raise property owners’ taxes.
I know what you mean!
You should receive a number of votes equal to the number of dollars you pay in taxes.
Period.
Sauron
Buchanan is right.
I can think of plenty of constituencies that shouldn’t be voting. We can start with felons, illegal aliens, and dead people who vote for the Democrat Party.
There should be some minimum standards that determine the electorate.
Tancredo was ridiculed a while back for supporting a literacy test. The horror of it all: denying people who are so uneducated they can’t even read the right to vote. They shouldn’t be allowed to get driver’s licenses either.
There should also be a floor measured by intelligence tests tied to voting rights. I can’t see how anyone can argue that someone with an IQ less than 90 should be allowed to vote.
>> There should be some minimum standards that determine the electorate.
Yeah. Let’s start with being a living Citizen registered to vote not twice, not three times, but just once for the given race.
>> I can’t see how anyone can argue that someone with an IQ less than 90 should be allowed to vote.
That’s too low. Let us know what yours IQ is, and we’ll raise the requirement by one.
That’s about right. I think that the only people that should be allowed to vote are those with a stake in the continued and future success of America.
And if you’re paying taxes, you sure don’t want them squandered, so you’ve got a stake in making sure that America is working properly. IE - getting better and stronger.
True, but in Starship Troopers... you couldn’t vote while you were in the service. So the civil service of that novel were not ‘lifers’, but worked for a few years to gain the right to vote.
Not a bad idea, having a weighted vote system. Hadn’t thought of that.
“I’d be happy to draft the questions.”
Draft them and put them up. Lets see how we do.
- Are net financial contributors to the government (i.e. pay more in taxes than they receive)
- Support themselves (don't live off others)
- Aren't felons
NIX! All should vote! Just because you don’t like an outcome of an election is no reason to try to disenfranchise citizens. This is the core of democracy. Try to take it away and it will only lead to violence and rebellion. I am all for a poll tax as long as its low enough for 95% of the population but even that is radical for me. All should vote even illegals who are here! You work here, you have a stake in the nation. I also believe in a Universal draft or National Service for all Americans.
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